1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pawl in a ratchet wrench and more particularly, to a pawl which has slots in the sides and can flex under stress.
2. Description of the Related Art
Ratchet wrenches and other tools include a pawl to permit rotation of a gear in a selected direction. The pawl has at least two teeth, separated from one another on a front surface of the pawl. The pawl teeth engage teeth on a separate ratchet gear and transmit torque from the handle to the gear to produce rotation of the gear. Depending upon the positioning or rotation of the pawl, one or the other teeth on the pawl engage the teeth on the gear to move the gear in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. Due to this engagement, the tooth (or teeth) on the pawl are subjected to large stresses and failure of the system is usually a result of shearing action on the pawl teeth and on the engaging ratchet teeth.
The present invention is directed to reducing the stress on the teeth on the pawl and more evenly distributes the load on the ratchet gear teeth.